Licensing Course Results in New Repeater for Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park
(National Park Service map)

When the Dayton Amateur Radio Association's Michael Kalter, W8CI, and his wife, Linda, W8AAV, were asked to teach a licensing course in Gardiner, Montana, on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park, about three years ago, they were amazed to discover that it was virtually impossible to bring up any of the area's repeaters from inside the park. During the two-day class, Kalter told Newsline, he and Linda emphasized the importance of putting up a repeater to serve the northern part of the park.

This fall, Michael said he received an e-mail from one of the new hams in the group, informing him that they'd started the North Yellowstone Amateur Radio Club and that one of the first things the club did was install a repeater on 2 meters. It covers the entire distance along U.S. 89 from I-90 to the park entrance and beyond. 

If you're in the area, it's on 146.98 MHz with a CTCSS tone of 100 Hz. Kalter told CQ that he and Linda had only ignited the spark of interest, while the hams of NYARC should be recognized for doing the hard work of getting a repeater, getting it coordinated and getting it on the air.